Chapter 35: Enemy contact!
In a burst of grey smoke, Shen materialized from the Twilight Eye.
Swiftly scanning the remains of the library, he lowered his guard slightly.
Shifting his head towards Xerath, he quickly figured what the situation was.
"Xerath, we'll talk about her later. For now, we need to stop whatever enemy is approaching."
Xerath glanced down quickly to affirm Syndra's safety.
She was safe, but she had her ears firmly covered by her hands.
"Sonic burst from the rocket. She's not used to this I assume. Give her a few seconds and she will be fine." Shen's paced yet deliberate voice explained.
"Alright." Xerath rose to his feet, quickly moving Syndra to cover behind a toppled bookcase.
"Let's move." Shen said, making his way up the shallow steps.
The library was a very small portion of the main hall, the entrance just enough for the large frame of Myuin to squeeze through. Xerath guessed that Giquan often made fun of her husband for the signs of friction on the sides of the walls and the evidence of cleaned rubble on the floor.
But that was not important.
The main hall was monstrous, and likewise incredibly open, bar the collection of artifacts located to the right of the library entrance.
For Xerath, this was strategically optimal.
An artillery-class mage, when given a long narrow strait of enemies, could wreak immense havoc.
For Shen however, Xerath knew that he would be at the very front of the enemy's arsenal. Not that Shen would care though.
He was rather used to it.
On the very far side of the hall was the entrance, already showing signs of whatever enemy was hiding there.
The sides of the entrance were lined with several enemy squads, ready to mow down anything that would come into their range.
"Shen." Xerath said, knowing full well what Shen wanted to do.
"When you are." Shen replied, watching as Xerath rooted himself to the ground with his arcane magic.
In an instant, Shen faded into a quicksilver shadow, casting itself towards the enemy force with immense speed.
Within mere seconds, the shadow was on them.
Materializing from the side of a wall, Shen began his assault, his blades unsheathed and bristling with the dark silver of 'chi' life force.
Where his blades passed, they did so effortlessly through the squad members' combat armor and their attempts at using rifles and other firearms to block Shen's graceful strikes.
As other squads away from the action started to set their sights on this demon warrior from the shadows, Xerath unleashed a barrage of lightning at them.
The bolts wracked through their forms, casting some into ashes immediately on impact.
As soon as the new threat from Xerath was recognized, Shen immediately dashed his way into another group, scattering any hope of targeting Xerath.
This was how the Institute had developed the concept of 'aggro', and it's applications were something that allowed these champions to face off against even the mightiest of odds with incredible success.
First, one party would enter the fray with their power and force a response from their opponents. Speed and impact were important factors to this, since if the momentum were too low, the response would be not enough and could even be avoided in some cases.
As soon as the first party's impact was over, a second party would come in to support them by zoning out a portion of the response from the enemy force. The first party would then intensify or continue applying pressure to make sure that the second party was not then prioritized, and thus can continue to apply their contribution to the fight.
This would continue until all enemy forces are either subdued or destroyed.
Or so said a rather handy and short pamphlet he was given in the introductory classes.
Natalie was storming down the corridor of the hospital, still furious at all of those things that Yamato had said to her.
So much sh*t was coming her way recently that she had no idea how to deal with it.
Boss had been getting irritated at Grigovic over nothing, Grigovic dying along with the rest of the crew back at Syndra's place, this f**king immortal noble somehow wanting to take care of her, all of it was just complete bullsh*t that would never happen in any normal circumstance.
Just why me?
Her thoughts were interrupted by voices.
Screams to be exact.
And gunfire, loads of gunfire.
The amount of fire was intense, clearly an entire strike force.
But why this place?
Yama had no sort of actual significance to the world, shouldn't it?
Something metallic clanged off the wooden framework further down the corridor.
A cylindrical and dumbbell like object.
Nat instinctively dived into the nearest doorway.
But not before was blasted by an intense burst of blazing white light and deafening sound.
Syndra sat up, her ears still ringing from the roar of the explosion.
The library had been completely destroyed, the toppled and blazing bookcases providing ample evidence.
Yet she had somehow survived.
That must have been Xerath's influence.
I mean, who else could it have been?
"Syndra?" An ethereal and otherworldly voice called to her.
"Who's there?"
"It's me, Xerath. I need you to provide support for me."
"From what?"
"Follow my voice and you'll get it very quickly."
Now that he mentioned it, Syndra quickly heard the sounds of conflict.
"Okay, I'm coming." Syndra said, rapidly getting to her feet and racing up the stairs.
Reaching the top, she saw Xerath in his rooted form.
The strange energies he emitted were something that her senses could not fully describe.
It was an alien presence, yet it was not discomforting.
It felt, warm, for any other classification would have been too impossibly long to truly convey.
Xerath unleashed another barrage of lightning across to the other side of the hall, directing Syndra's attention towards the action.
A ninja, she believed, was in combat with a large force of gun-armed men and was cutting them down mercilessly.
He was doing an incredible job, the amount of bodies she could see from a hundred meters away being far too many for her eyes to properly discern enemy casualties.
"Syndra," The ethereal voice of Xerath calling her back from the mayhem. "You need to stay by my side. I can barely move in this form, so I need you to protect me from any forces that get too close. If you find any opportunity to do so, construct a barrier to stop incoming fire. You think you can do that?"
"Mhm, yeah, I can do that."
"Good. Engage any enemies that come too close, but do not stray from me. Otherwise, I'll be completely open."
Adopting a combat stance, Syndra kept lookout for anything that was going to get too close to her master.
"F**k. Holy sh*t that hurt." Were the first words that came out from Natalie as her senses returned to her.
She had just managed to make her way into the room before the flashbang had detonated, and thankfully was still alive because of it.
Either way, she was unarmed and there were most likely bad guys making their way down the corridor.
She could already hear the puffs of suppressed weapon fire outside the door.
A couple of meters probably.
That's all she had.
Frantically, she scanned the medical room.
There was a family of three hiding at the far door side corner covering their mouths and open eyed at this new comer.
They already knew that this girl was Zaunic from her natural blonde hair and the gaunt face that was so common in Zaunic culture.
Paying them no heed, Nat searched for anything she could use as a weapon.
If she was guessing right, the guy would poke his weapon in first, checking the nearest corner, then sweep around his weapon around.
During that time, she could probably get a blunt object to stagger him, then jab him with a couple of scalpels or something to weaken him. Then she could probably reach for his pistol for the killing blow.
Yeah, that should work.
Finding a Pilt' fire extinguisher and scissors, she crouched herself beside the wall, ready to swing the metal canister up and across at whoever was next to come through that door.
She could hear footsteps just outside the door, creeping ever closer.
She saw the barrel of the carbine pry its way into the room, scanning over to the nearest corner.
Now was the time.
I'd better not f*ck this up.
The man's body swung around the corner, his sights sweeping over through the room.
Nat swung the extinguisher with all her strength.
In an instant, the man immediately brought his carbine up as a shield against the incoming canister, staggering back as the momentum of the impact rang through his entire body.
But Nat could see that he was recovering, and very quickly at that.
Letting the extinguisher go, she focused on driving the scissors into a joint in the torso of his combat armor.
But the man responded swiftly, bringing his carbine back around to divert the blades.
The carbine smacked itself against her hand, making Nat lose her grip on the scissors and could only watch as they fell from her hand.
Sh*t!
Nat tried to recover, but the world swirled as she and the brunt force of the carbine butt cracking against her head.
She fell hard on the sanitary tiles of the medical room, her head buzzing with pain.
In a moment, the hulking man, grasping both of her wrists together with a single hand, pinned her down against the floor with his own body.
Although she was still slightly taller than the average woman, this man seemed to dwarf her in stature and frame. A behemoth that could crush her with his bare hands in mere moments.
"Looks like I can'ave a li'ddl' bid'a fun aufter'all." The beast grinned.
The man loomed over her, his free hand caressing her body, the traveler's cloak barely providing any safety from the notions that Nat knew were coming.
"Hey Grig, you mind?" A voice called out from the hall.
Grig?
Grig.
That voice swirled in her mind, a name that meant the day she had wanted to ignore.
She was a professional now, so that shouldn't shake me!
But it was.
Her breath was stuck in her throat, her heart pumping so fast, her arms stiff as terror flooded through her.
The boss was right to have been pissed at him since then.
She had been so scared back then.
And now history will repeat itself!
No, no, no, no!
Boss, please help me!
Viktor!
"Tha' boss wan'ded sum'thin' done, di'n't he? Well, 'e gets what 'e wan's an' I get what I want! W'erks out 'fer both par'dies, so nothing ain't wrong with that, ain't there?"
"F**king hell Grig, the boss is going to be absolutely furious! The b*stard's already pissed at that blue b*tch already for making a stupid comment, imagine how pissed he'll be when he finds out you've raped another girl!"
"Won' get mad at sum'thin' he don't know. Just shu'dup and I'll get this o'fer an' done with quick."
"Fine! Better start before them Onions start mobilizing."
"Go'da love that name sometoimes," The monster laughed before turning back to Natalie once more. "Now, le's make this sharpish." He grinned.
Natalie's eyes grew wide with fear as the beast eclipsed over her.
She could hear gunfire as it ravished her, growing and silencing as it closed towards the room.
She saw a glance of the b*stard standing guard steadied his weapon down the corridor and opened fire, only to be cut down as a blaze of light swooped past him.
She could feel an intense, yet comforting ray of warm light manage to pierce through the complete eclipse.
The beast stopped and rolled itself away from her.
"What the f**k ar-" It managed to cry before its head was severed from its body by the newcomer's blazing sword.
It was almost like an angel, barded in the fires of a righteous sun.
The light began to fade away, revealing the identity of the being that had saved her.
It was Yamoto.
Of all things, it was f**king Yamoto.
"You alright?" He asked, sheathing his pristine and perfect blade.
Only then did she realize what the beast had done to her.
Her coat had been tore apart from the collar, and her shirt had been torn down to reveal part of her breasts.
Quickly trying to hide her bare chest with what remained of her coat, Natalie tried to get out words, but only rasps of air answered her.
In an instant, Yamoto embraced her, only to be pushed back immediately.
"The f**k did you do that?" Natalie asked.
"Xerath did this to you before, right? I thought it might it work when I do as well."
"F**king hell, you really are useless." Nat sighed.
"Now, can you get me some clothes? Please?" Nat demanded, as if it was expected for Yamoto to be completely on track with her.
Yamoto had found some travel gear that was appealing to Natalie, and was just standing guard outside the room while she was putting them on.
After about a minute, Yamoto's youthful instincts started to kick in.
What if she's still changing?
Maybe I could get a glance of her body again.
She definitely had a nice one when I saw it back there.
Stealthily turning the doorknob, Yamoto peeked inside.
Natalie was fully dressed with army pants and a new black tank top, had rolled her hair into a bun, had a rifle shouldered, and was now counting the ammunition she had available.
Their gazes met for an instant, to which Natalie replied by rolling her eyes.
Nat rushed to the door, combat ready, and motioned for Yamoto to follow her.
Sadly, Yamoto did not get the message and stared at her questioningly.
Once again rolling her eyes, Nat said, "Just follow me for f**ks sake."
Making their ways down the corridor, Nat saw a group of five armored men down the hallway kicking in doors and searching for inhabitants.
Turning back to Yamoto, she explained the situation.
"Five guys, two with a carbine, two with SMGs, and another with a shotgun. I'll get their attention, and then you come in and cut them down. Got it?"
"Yeah, I got it."
"Good." Nat said, before turning the corner and unleashing a salvo of rounds down towards the corridor.
One of the bursts killed a carbine wielder outright, a bullet passing straight through his skull. The other bullets either missed or were stopped by the reinforced armor as the squad had enough time to leap into some form of cover and return fire.
"The f**k? I know armor was supposed to do something against bullets, but for all of that to completely stop this gun?" Nat commented as the hail of bullets rained down the corridor.
And then she noticed the specifications printed on the side of the magazine.
'19/4/5 CE, 5.57mm AP rounds'
Anti-personnel rounds, from over fifteen years ago.
Of f**king course.
But then she realized that Yamoto was unsheathing his sword.
In a brilliant dazzle of light, Yamoto was accompanied by two angelic beings, the exact same when he had saved her back there.
In a blink of the eye, the two beings charged down the hallway.
They were met quickly with another hail of rounds, yet their forms did not waver as the bullets passed undisturbed through them.
Readying their swords, the phantoms began their assault, completely slaughtering them within seconds.
"Useless, you say?" Yamoto mocked.
"Shut the f**k up, will ya?"
"Bravo team, do you copy?" The vox chimed.
"Bravo Leader here, HQ. What's the situation?"
"We've had reports of resistance in Namikura hospital, at least one mage contact. Send a squad down there to stop them."
"HQ, do we have eyes on the two man Institute cell?"
"Alpha team is reporting their engagement against them. Champion contact is highly unlikely. Be advised, these guys have taken out over sixty-five percent of the forces in Namikura hospital. These guys are deadly."
"Copy that HQ, sending down Foxhound and Foxtrot squad, over."
"Copy that Bravo Leader, relaying debrief to them now, over."
"Foxhound Leader, do you copy?"
"Foxhound Leader here, we copy, HQ."
"Your new objective is to secure Namikura hospital and quell all resistance. We have intel of only two contacts, a mage and an ex-military, no Champion threat known. Be advised that once Delta team completes its objective, you fall back immediately, copy?"
"Copy that HQ, Foxhound and Foxtrot moving out now."
It was strange.
Xerath, Shen and Syndra had reached a stalemate against the enemy force, yet something wasn't right.
They hadn't come across anything that was even remotely capable of firing the initial rocket that had started all of this.
The enemy force even had mechanized walkers among them, yet even they would've been unable to wield the weapon that had destroyed the library.
There were more pressing matters at hand, yet it was incredibly important.
They had managed to find allies to their cause, but these 'acolytes' were masters of blade and bow, something that could barely close the distance against this organized gunfire. Relegated to standing behind Syndra's morphing shields, they had been growing desperate for combat and proving their worth.
But the risk to their lives was too great.
It would be easier if these kids could just follow some sort of instructions, like clearing out the civilian population or something.
But they can't do that now, not while we're cornered like this.
The only exit to this place is the several hundred meter drop from the dragon landing pad.
Man, it was pretty weird to say that, dragon landing pad.
Just doesn't feel right.
Whatever, it's not like anyone else gets annoyed at that sort of thing.
Xerath heard the screech again.
It was the same rocket.
Sh*t.
"SYNDRA, MAXIMUM SHIELDS. I'M GOING TO DETONATE IT THEN USE A PLASMA REACTIVE SHIELD." Xerath quickly roared over the echoes of rifle and auto cannon fire.
"Got it! I still don't get what you mean by your shield though." The reply answered, the last part trailing off.
Xerath watched as the large 250mm rocket spiraled towards them from the hall entrance, its dirty yellow flame leaving behind a trail of dense smoke.
Outstretching his hands, Xerath conjured a wave of azure light to engulf the rocket's path.
As the rocket entered the light cloud, arcs of lightning crackled against its hull, causing the detonator to activate.
In a blinding crimson burst, the rocket exploded, blasting loose rock and dirt across the immense room.
Xerath immediately conjured a crackling wall of energy to surround him and his allies.
In but another instant, this bubble expanded outwards, diverting most of the incoming shockwave away from them.
Xerath, exhausted, rested himself for a second before scanning through the dense dust cloud.
He spotted an arcane signature, and a big one at that.
This was going to be something that no ordinary soldier would ever see on any battlefield, he knew that much.
Syndra couldn't see anything.
There was just too much dust.
But, she could feel something.
An arcane presence that was not coming from Xerath.
And not something from any being she knew of.
From within the cloud, she could hear a whir of motors and servos, and the crackling of lightning.
Two mechanical lights blared out the omen of some monster hiding inside the cloud, quickly followed by a glaring azure light of a monstrous weapon of some alien origin.
"Syndra! Get that shield back up now! We'll need it against this thing!" Xerath cried to her.
"What the hell is this thing?" She cried back.
"A Piltoverian Centurion-class siege assault walker. That big electric weapon of his is no weapon, it's an arcane disruptor shield. The thing can completely distort and cancel all but the most ridiculous spells, and I don't think I have the time to conjure anything to that magnitude." Xerath replied swiftly.
"But you're a freaking League Champion! Doesn't that count for something?"
"Defense comes first here! Get that shield back up!"
You saying that we can't take this thing?
I don't want it to be cut short like this!
Natalie and Yamoto had cleared out most of the sections of the two-story hospital.
Enemy forces had become thin, and they had found enemy soldiers that had been killed by something different.
Their bodies had been charred by an arcane source from what Yamoto could gather, something that Natalie had no real idea on.
She had never had much interest in magic, and it was really showing now whenever she had actually listened to Yamoto talking about magic sh*t.
And it wasn't just some random sh*t either.
He had begun to talk about some very weird concepts like conductor charring and that sort of magic sh*t while trying to decipher what sort of ally, or potential enemy, they may come across.
Making their way across to the expansive courtyard, Natalie spotted an entire ten-man squad making their way through the front entrance at combat stance.
They were heavily armored and gunned, composing of assault rifles and even a light machine-gun.
Looks like they were fighting on some other front.
So does that mean they were planning on fighting against some military force?
Does that mean that we're not the only place where the fighting is going on?
Hell, I even spy a grenade launcher!
These guys had to have been fighting against the Ionian military!
That's the only reason I can think of, at least.
Turning to Yamoto, she began to think up a plan.
"Oh boys!" A very feminine and enchanting voice interjected, drawing her attention back to the advancing squad.
In a brilliant blast of wisp-fire, several soldiers had been reduced to charred remains, just like the ones she had seen further inside the compound.
Another flash of the blue fire gouged out another couple of soldiers who had only just realized this new threat.
As the last few began their hurried and panicked retreat, they too were cut down by yet another burst of the blazing flame that had engulfed their comrades.
A figure loomed over the dying fires, scanning for any other intruders.
"Lady Ahri?" Yamato called out to this newcomer.
"Wait, that's Ahri?" Natalie quietly questioned, wondering if this was the same considerate woman she had sat with at breakfast only just this morning.
Ahri glanced around to the doorframe from which Yamoto had called out to her.
In a warm smile unbefitting someone who had just killed ten men, she ran towards them.
"Yam! Nat! It's so good to see that you're both alright!"
"Yeah, we kinda had a few close calls though." Natalie replied rather annoyed at the event several minutes ago.
"I can kind of see what you're getting at by the fact that you have no bra."
"No… bra?" Natalie said, looking down at her tank top.
It appeared that despite her lack of size, her breasts were still bouncing inside the black tank top freely.
How had she forgotten to get a new bra!
I mean, how the hell could she, a nineteen-year-old girl, forget something so crucial to her existence!
"I… managed to snap my… bra back when I was… assaulted by one of the soldiers. I needed to get a new pair of clothes, and couldn't really find a new bra… so I…"
Natalie cleared her throat for a second.
"Decided to go commando…"
Ahri met Nat with a warm and acknowledging smile, fully understanding what she had just gone through.
"Don't worry about it, I get what you mean. When this is all over, I'll buy you one." Ahri said, meeting Nat with a quick thumbs-up.
"I'm honored." Nat replied, unimpressed at Ahri's offer.
All the while Yamoto was completely lost in this conversation.
Out of nowhere, a massive five-meter behemoth barged its way through the stone wall and into the courtyard.
An anthropomorphic walker with it's curved box-like hull and cyclopean main sensor pod with a massive auto-rifle cradled in its two bulky, three fingered hands.
"F**king hell, it's a Wolfhound!" Natalie cried, recognizing the ubiquitous Zaunic machine.
"Get to cover! Now!" Ahri cried as she dragged the vacant Yamoto behind the nearest cover.
"HQ, this is Foxhound 1! Foxtrot squad has been wiped out! Wait."
"Holy sh*t… HQ, I HAVE CHAMPION CONTACT! I REPEAT I HAVE CHAMPION CONTACT! IT'S THAT FOX GIRL AHRI! I REQUIRE ASSISTANCE ASAP!"
"Copy that Foxhound 1, rerouting the rest of Foxhound squad to your location. Hold your position and wait for the rest of Foxhound, over."
"Copy that HQ. Holding position and waiting for the rest of Foxhound. Foxhound 1 out." He replied before the vox cut out.
"Guess I was wrong to put that five-k creds on her next battle after all."